I'm an ignorant 20 year old (not afraid to admit it :P ) and I need someone to explain to me what is wrong about grabbing your things? I'm asking in the context of like having your duffel under the seat in front of you, and neither seat is damaged. I can understand abandoning your personal items if you're blocking an aisle or exit to do so...

I just feel like if I were in that scenario, and I was physically able to do so, I would absolutely grab my carryon containing my laptop, phone, chargers, credit cards, passport, etc; essentially my life when I'm traveling...

1. Almost necessarily "blocking an aisle or exit" while grabbing them.

2. Taking up space in that aisle or exit by having your bag there when other human beings might need to be in that space to avoid fire, smoke, etc.

3. Slowing down your own escape, thereby slowing the escape of anyone behind you. Just because you don't see a fire yet doesn't mean there won't be one.

4. Blocking the view of flight attendants, firefighters, and others who need to be able to see in order to save lives.

5. Risking unnecessary damage to escape slides.

6. Endangering the lives of said flight attendants, firefighters, and others whose job it is to save your self-described "ignorant" self - what if you get stuck and somebody has to come rescue you, and then they are injured or killed when things get worse due to fire, collapse, etc.? Do you really want to meet your Creator having cause the death of somebody else's mother/father/daughter/son/spouse in the interest of saving your carryon, laptop, phone, chargers, credit cards, passport, etc.?

I haven't seen a whole lot of pictures from this most recent incidents, but from the ones I've seen - many backpacks, large purses, and no shortage of roll-a-board luggage.

I was actually going to start another thread on this but this may do fine.

Now - in a situation where the crew has time to explain that these things are to be left behind, this would be pretty bad. But in this case I could see the amount of time between impact, stopping and finally coming to rest may have been just a handful of seconds.

1. Almost necessarily "blocking an aisle or exit" while grabbing them.

2. Taking up space in that aisle or exit by having your bag there when other human beings might need to be in that space to avoid fire, smoke, etc.

3. Slowing down your own escape, thereby slowing the escape of anyone behind you. Just because you don't see a fire yet doesn't mean there won't be one.

4. Blocking the view of flight attendants, firefighters, and others who need to be able to see in order to save lives.

5. Risking unnecessary damage to escape slides.

6. Endangering the lives of said flight attendants, firefighters, and others whose job it is to save your self-described "ignorant" self - what if you get stuck and somebody has to come rescue you, and then they are injured or killed when things get worse due to fire, collapse, etc.? Do you really want to meet your Creator having cause the death of somebody else's mother/father/daughter/son/spouse in the interest of saving your carryon, laptop, phone, chargers, credit cards, passport, etc.?

That's what's wrong with grabbing your things.

To follow up on this...it's really about time. Even a second or two could be the difference between life and death in a crash situation. Years ago I watched a show where they took a reporter onto a aircraft simulator that the FAA uses. They showed how quickly the plane can fill with smoke...making it impossible to see (the FAA investigator said that when he travels he physically touches and counts the number of rows to the exit because he knows its very likely there will be zero visibility in the event of a fire...those little lights were useless). The reporter was visibly shaken after he went through the simulation...he failed to get out in the 30 or so seconds the FAA guy said you have until you pass out from the smoke/noxious fumes, all three times.

I see people get their bags stuck on armrests, seats etc when slowly boarding...imagine trying to do that with 200 people scrambling to the exits in an emergency.

With regard to documents...I scanned everything into my phone and also saved it all to the cloud (Box and Dropbox), that way I can always have access to a hi-resolution copy of anything I need. Accounts are free...worth a look.

I'm guessin they will help you to get your id's and posessions back.....

What help could an airline give you with getting your passport and drivers license, even if they wanted to help?
After the investigations, the luggage will be recovered if possible
I do not think they will do that until they determine the cause of the crash - That is most important for future crashes
Then luggage ID etc etc - Those can and will wait.

All of this assumes you will have access - either you have a device with you (I carry no electronics overseas, it would have been in the overhead if I were traveling domestically and sitting in my favorite bulkhead seat) or someone is going to provide free access to such a device.

I do think a customs official would provide access in such a situation for the purposes of determining if you were admissible.

I'm an ignorant 20 year old (not afraid to admit it :P ) and I need someone to explain to me what is wrong about grabbing your things? I'm asking in the context of like having your duffel under the seat in front of you, and neither seat is damaged. I can understand abandoning your personal items if you're blocking an aisle or exit to do so...

I just feel like if I were in that scenario, and I was physically able to do so, I would absolutely grab my carryon containing my laptop, phone, chargers, credit cards, passport, etc; essentially my life when I'm traveling...

Watch Mythbusters where they test the effectiveness of the brace position during a simulated plane crash. Beyond personal disorientation, compression likely marginalizes any hope of quickly recovering a bag.

I'm an ignorant 20 year old (not afraid to admit it :P ) and I need someone to explain to me what is wrong about grabbing your things? I'm asking in the context of like having your duffel under the seat in front of you, and neither seat is damaged. I can understand abandoning your personal items if you're blocking an aisle or exit to do so...

I just feel like if I were in that scenario, and I was physically able to do so, I would absolutely grab my carryon containing my laptop, phone, chargers, credit cards, passport, etc; essentially my life when I'm traveling...

That's going to slow the evacuation a little bit. That's a big no-no. It's also not a good idea going down the slide. Those things are basically big, tough balloons--you do *NOT* want to poke a hole!

I am curious about the legal status of the victims of the crash as well.

As it happens, I ran into an analogous situation recently with an acquaintance who is an EU citizen in the USA under the VWP. While visiting the USA, he briefly left the country by sea to go on a cruise to the Bahamas, where he disembarked and spent a few days (and was stamped in by immigration officials there). Upon returning to the States, he simply walked off the cruise ship...no CBP officers inspecting, no port officials checking passports, nothing at all. He is worried that CBP will have no record of his re-entry to the USA, and that it will cause problems when he tries to depart the country by air later in the month.

What do you think he should do? Go to an airport and speak with the CBP officers? Call the cruise line? Hope that the cruise line submitted pax info properly and cross fingers?

I'm an ignorant 20 year old (not afraid to admit it :P ) and I need someone to explain to me what is wrong about grabbing your things? I'm asking in the context of like having your duffel under the seat in front of you, and neither seat is damaged. I can understand abandoning your personal items if you're blocking an aisle or exit to do so...

I just feel like if I were in that scenario, and I was physically able to do so, I would absolutely grab my carryon containing my laptop, phone, chargers, credit cards, passport, etc; essentially my life when I'm traveling...

I don't want to be stuck behind someone rummaging around looking for the bag that holds their toys while the cabin is filling with smoke. Call me old fashioned, but my life is more important than your iphone charger.

I just feel like if I were in that scenario, and I was physically able to do so, I would absolutely grab my carryon containing my laptop, phone, chargers, credit cards, passport, etc; essentially my life when I'm traveling...

No, all of that is not your life, it's your stuff, all of which can be replaced. Your life, and the lives you jeopardize by wasting time with stuff can not be replaced.

I am curious about the legal status of the victims of the crash as well.

As it happens, I ran into an analogous situation recently with an acquaintance who is an EU citizen in the USA under the VWP. While visiting the USA, he briefly left the country by sea to go on a cruise to the Bahamas, where he disembarked and spent a few days (and was stamped in by immigration officials there). Upon returning to the States, he simply walked off the cruise ship...no CBP officers inspecting, no port officials checking passports, nothing at all. He is worried that CBP will have no record of his re-entry to the USA, and that it will cause problems when he tries to depart the country by air later in the month.

What do you think he should do? Go to an airport and speak with the CBP officers? Call the cruise line? Hope that the cruise line submitted pax info properly and cross fingers?

When he boarded the cruise ship it would have scanned (and perhaps held until he arrived in the USA) his passport. The cruise ship then provided this info to the CBP.

Four times I have arrived in the U.S. via cruise ship holding a non USA passport. Only twice did I have to meet the CBP.

Savvy travelers wear their most important documents and cards on their person when traveling. I have several very small purses and pouches to choose from. I wear passport, IDs, credit cards, cash, iPod & earbuds, and itinerary cross-body. I also own several Scottevest items (vests, jacket) to hold even more. It's important to do this for safety in case of an emergency and to keep someone from stealing things from my tote (under the seat in front of me or in the overhead).

Yep! +1 !

Although I never owned a wallet, when in a plane and in case of emergency, I always carry (wear) my passport, IDs, CCs and money in my pants pockets (I'm male).